Empire Ascendant: Setting the Stage
by realpolitik
Summary: Background information/codex. Humanity discovered the Mars Archives a full century early. It led to a massive divergence in history, one that likely changed the shape of the galaxy for millennia to come. Now, a full four centuries after mankind discovered that it was, in fact, not alone, an unseen threat begins to rouse. (AU History, AU First Contact)


An Extreme AU Mass Effect-verse where Humanity discovers the Prothean Ruins a full hundred years early, right in the midst of the Second Cold War. As a result of this early discovery, the Shanxi Relay (314) remained undiscovered for centuries, and Humanity expands in the direction of the Terminus instead of Citadel space. For the moment, assume that the Reapers are coming 300 years late.

Influences on this fic:  
Of Sheep and Battle Chicken. I consider OSaBC to be the Gold Standard for AU Mass Effect, right alongside Renegade Reinterpretations and Living an Indoctrinated Dream. Both of those also have influences on this fic, but they're a bit harder to see.

'Mass Effect: A New Past' by Bombsquad. Mass Effect is stated to have a lot more in terms of minor races, but they're unseen in the games. This was something I never bothered with adding to it until reading 'A New Past'.

A lot of these locations and species are located in existing star clusters- we know that the ones in-game aren't everything there is in the Mass Effect-verse. For example, the colony Cyrene exists in ME canon in the Titan Nebula (which exists in the games itself, but does not include Cyrene). So I can justify the addition of the expanded star clusters :)

Let me know what you think of this one.

* * *

 _Honored Councilors,_

 _The Imperial Public Codex was first published in the 2400s as a response to the Citadel Codex. It's regularly accessed within Imperial Space, and is the third-most popular extranet site by traffic volume. It thus represents an important resource for analysis, as it serves as the 'official' information repository for the Imperials. Their 'worldview', so to speak, would stem from whatever they find on this site. Enclosed within is the history of the Imperials and Humanity in particular, as written by them. Ostensibly, it is a neutral and objective article, but unconscious biases are aplenty here._

 _Forwarded from Janaris T'Vao  
Director, Citadel Combined Intelligence Task Force_

* * *

 **An Introduction to Humanity**

Humanity has been in space for well over five centuries now. While admittedly not a long time compared to the Asari, Salarians, or Turians, each of whom have at least two millennia of spaceflight behind them, the Humans have achieved much during their time. Their impact on modern-day politics, culture and technology is undeniable.

Humans, or more scientifically, _homo sapiens_ , evolved on the planet Earth, located in the Sol System of the Orion Spiral Arm. Their history is much like the Turians' and to a certain extent, the Batarians', more so than any other species in explored space.

Humanity had been fractured since the beginning, and wars were commonplace, and occurred for the most inane of reasons. Unlike the Asari, which had always used diplomacy as a tool for peace, Humans had never given diplomacy much of an attempt until six hundred or so years ago. Their first attempt was a failure, culminating with a war of epic proportions that is unseen in any species' history save for the Krogan and Vorcha. Humanity is noted to be the only species outside of the Krogan to have used nuclear weapons before they had interstellar flight, a distinction that few people forget.

The end of their 'Second World War' (that's the one that ended with the first human nuclear weapons) did not usher a utopian era of peace for Humanity. The peace was a tenuous one at best, with Earth being divided into two different ideologies clashing for dominance. Nuclear weapons were stockpiled in massive numbers that even the Krogan failed to match at their height. Most species would call this insanity, Humanity called it Mutually Assured Destruction.

This tenuous peace, the First Cold War, lasted five decades. Ironically, it led to the highest rate of technological advancement recorded in explored space. Humanity achieved spaceflight during this period. To put it in perspective, in the span of less than six decades, Humanity advanced from basic atmospheric flight to _spaceflight_. The Salarians were the previous holders to this record, having taken slightly more than a hundred years to do so.

Human space exploration was a risky endeavor, with many early explorer ships being flimsy objects that had little protection against the dangers of space. Even so, by the 2040s (eight decades after the first human went to space) Humans had set foot on Mars, the nearest planetary body to Earth aside from their Moon.

* * *

 **The Discovery and Aftermath**

In 2048 CE, Humanity made what they hailed as the 'Greatest Discovery of the Century'. They found a largely undamaged Prothean Archive on Mars. In many races, the discovery of the existence of extraterrestrial life tends to be a catalyst for unification. The Ten Minutes' War amongst the Batarians which led to the formation of the First Batarian Hegemony, for example, is a direct result of the discovery of a crashed Prothean ship on Bira (a moon of one of the gas giants in their home system).

Humanity's attempts to unite did not last long, the raging Second Cold War that had been raging for two decades causing too much tension for it to work. The nascent Unified Earth Government did not get past planning stage, and the Ruins became a point of contention between the major power blocs of the day.

The Third World War began in mid-2049 CE as the Sino-American Confederation launched a brutal takeover of the Prothean Ruins. Deployment of nuclear weapons during the Third World War was rare, not because of the lack of nukes, but because of the efficient Anti-Missile Defense systems that all major power blocs had. The nascent space navies of these power blocs would clash over Earth and Mars, while massive armies were deployed all over the Earth. Most Human wars were ended by soldiers and diplomats, but this one was ended by businessmen and scientists. A corporate-funded armada took over Mars' Prothean Ruins, and their scientists developed the first Human Mass Accelerator cannons. It was with these weapons that the Earth Consortium was formed. The Consortium was the first united human government, but it was one that bred resentment. Power was concentrated in the hands of a small number of elites, mostly the corporate leaders, mercenaries and scientists that had founded the Consortium in the first place. Some of the names behind the formation of the Consortium still remain as powerful influences in the Human race today, but are generally more private due to their past.

Still, the Consortium was the driving force behind the expansion of Humanity's territories. In this, Humanity was lucky. The Mass Relay in their home system led to a Primary Mass Relay node, with many other Mass Relay connections from there. The Consortium's expansion ran unchecked for decades, with the various elites quickly carving up their own fiefdoms within the growing empire. The Consortium's research into biotics in this period would later become infamous, with the sickening experiments lasting well into the 2100s. It was discovered that the Consortium had purposefully detonated Element Zero drive cores in orbit of several colonies to ensure a constant source of biotic children to experiment upon.

* * *

 **The Civil Wars**

Then, in 2085 CE, the first Human rebellions against Consortium rule occurred. These were isolated events at first, but soon grow out of control. The Neo-Egalitarian Front quickly grew to become the largest of these rebel movements, with the Dominar Movement being a close second. Both mainline rebel organizations fought the Consortium as much as they did with each other, and the First Interstellar War (now known as the First Human Civil War) quickly spiralled into a three-way fight. This war lasted ten years, before the Treaty of New Castille was signed. The establishment of the Dominar Esfera and the Red Star Union as independent star nations ended the dominance of the old Consortium.

The Cold War that followed the Treaty of New Castille would see Human technology advance by leaps and bounds. The Dominar Esfera's pioneering of genetically modified troops, the Consortium's mech armies and the Red Star's clone legions were the most famous of these technologies, and all three powers continued to pursue biotic programs (the Consortium were by far the most successful in this regard, albeit at the cost of questionable ethics).

By 2115 CE, twenty-five years after the end of the First Interstellar War, however, the Skirmish at New Volgograd would plunge the three star nations into war once more. The Second Interstellar War lasted significantly longer than the First Interstellar War, but it saw few territorial changes. The Second Interstellar War was a time of great despair for many Humans across the three nations, and by the fifteenth year of conflict, many had reached their breaking point, with riots and demands for an end to the war being brought up by the civilian populace. The brutal crackdowns that followed were enough to dissuade many from trying again for several years, but in the end it would not be enough.

In 2133 CE, the Consortium Navy's 5th Fleet under the command of Admiral Anthony Constantine would rebel from Consortium control. The reason for was unclear at the start, but it is now widely acknowledged that Constantine had discovered the roots of the Consortium biotic program in 2132, and that this was the biggest reason for his rebellion. Constantine was a charismatic orator and a military genius, and many flocked under his command, with some of the notable ones being Vice Admiral Vina Shastri of the RSU's 2nd Fleet, and Vice Admiral Emilio Udina of the Dominar 3rd Fleet. Other notable supporters of Constantine at the time were the Consortium business magnates Arthur Manswell and Micah Ashland, noted R&D kingpin Shinji Okuda, Rear Admiral Konstantin Alenko of the RSU's Naval Special Warfare Fleet, and Consortium Marine Corps General Bernard Williams. The force that Constantine forged was one that, by all logical means, _should not_ have won the Second Interstellar War.

But it did.

Constantine's Armada struck through Dominar Space first, quickly conquering dozens of border worlds where the locals eagerly joined the charismatic admiral. Using infiltration teams, the Armada disabled the Dominar First Fleet, allowing the conquest of the Dominar capital world of Bastion. Constantine then split his force into two, sending a fleet to keep the Consortium off-balance while he personally led the attack on the Red Star Union.

It took two years for the RSU to fall, but fall it did. In 2136 CE, Constantine personally marched into the People's Hall on Nova Leningrad to accept the RSU Premier's surrender. Then, the man turned his focus onto the Consortium.

Of all three powers, the Consortium had always been the most powerful, and the most advanced. Constantine, however, had the technological base of all three nations at his back thanks to the work of Shinji Okuda, and his Armada cut a swathe through the Consortium fringe worlds, where he found many willing recruits. It was around this time where Admiral Terrence Hackett, the CO of the Consortium Arcturus Fleet, defected to Constantine's side after discovering the Consortium biotic program. He brought with him a quarter of the Arcturus Fleet, and became one of Constantine's top military commanders for the rest of the war.

The Consortium's die-hard loyalists fought hard, and lasted for much longer than the RSU and Dominar combined. It took eight years for the Armada to break past the Arcturus System, and another whole year before Earth itself submitted. The commander in charge of Arcturus, and later Earth's defense was, to Constantine's surprise, a mere Rear Admiral who had been brevet-promoted to Fleet Admiral. When the Consortium finally surrendered, it was not the Director of the Consortium who would submit, but rather Rear Admiral Mira Shepard. It would later turn out that she personally shot the Director after he refused to surrender despite the loss of the entire Consortium Navy. In February 17, 2145 CE, the Second Interstellar War ended, after 30 years of relentless warfare, and 1.1 billion dead.

Constantine, to the his great surprise and dismay, found that the newly reunified humanity would not accept anyone else except him for their leader. After two weeks of constant debate and argument, Constantine's 'inner circle' managed to convince him to accede to being crowned Emperor.

On March 1, 2145 CE, the Human Systems Imperium was formed, and Emperor Antonius of the House of Constantine was crowned Emperor of Man.

* * *

 **Founding Years**

The Systems Imperium started out as an absolute monarchy, but it was a state of affairs that the new Emperor found intolerable. In 2147, the legislative branch of the Imperial Government, the Imperial Congress, was created. In the same year, the judicial branch of the Imperial Government, the Imperial High Court, was created.

This system of government has stayed consistent until this date, so it is worth explaining. The Imperial Congress is split into two 'Chambers'. The Chamber of Lords is composed of the Imperium's Nobility. The other Chamber is the Chamber of Commons, which is composed of democratically elected officials from every star cluster in the Imperium, with the number of votes a cluster has being dependant on the cluster's population size and industry. Most of the nobility would arise from Constantine's inner circle during the War, with the Houses of Manswell, Hackett, Okuda, Shastri and Udina being highly prominent to this day. One notable exception is the formation of the House of Shepard, which was personally created by the Emperor in 'recognition for the integrity and honor with which Read Admiral Mira Shepard conducted herself, and in recognition for her achievements in the field of war'.

Later on, these Houses would be called the Great Houses of Imperial Nobility, with two subordinate tiers (Lesser and then Vassal Houses). A Lesser House is created when a person is ennobled by the Imperial Throne, although it is common practice for it to be done with majority approval from both the Chamber of Lords _and_ the Chamber of Commons. A Vassal House is usually created by Imperial or Great Houses, and in rare cases by Lesser Houses. Most Noble Houses are Vassal Houses, and all of these do not participate in the Chamber of Lords. Vassal Houses must be proposed by a Great/Lesser House during the annual Imperial Noble Conference, seconded by another Great/Lesser House in the same Conference, and approved by a majority (50%+1) of the Chamber of Lords, and then recognized by the Throne. Lesser and Vassal Houses are almost always referred to as 'Noble Houses', and this term is rarely used for the Great Houses despite it being initially invented for them. The House of Constantine is _always_ referred to as the Imperial House.

It should be noted that while military service is not obligatory for a commoner, a member of the Nobility must serve a minimum of one tour of duty in the Imperial military. This would later lead to the disproportionate number of senior officers who were nobles. For example, nearly 65% of all Imperial O-7 officers (Commodore for the Imperial Navy and Brigadier General for the Imperial Marine Corps and Army) and higher are members of the Imperial nobility, with certain Houses being highly dominant in specific organizations. The House of Hackett, for example, have always had a member on the Imperial Naval Command, while the House of Williams has a history of producing Imperial Marine Corps Generals.

The Imperium's founding years were rocky ones, but the barely-recovered nation would be thrown into war just a dozen years after it was formed. The biotic program of the defunct Consortium was retooled into the Ascension Program, overseen by Imperial authorities and following a strict moral guideline.

* * *

 **First Contact**

In June 2157 CE, the Imperial frontier colony of New Falklands was attacked by an extraterrestrial race. They called themselves the Vikar. The Vikar were a feline species, standing at an average of seven feet tall. They were more agile than Humans, but physically weaker. It would be commented that the Vikar looked like 'larger, taller housecats with elongated snouts, sharper teeth, and bad breath' by certain Human officials.

New Falklands had been settled by war refugees from the old Dominar Esfera, to escape from the bad memories of the war. They hadn't brought much in the way of weaponry with them, and were thus easy targets for the Vikar Subjugation Fleet. The Vikar had assumed that they had a technological advantage over the Humans, just like their previous conquest (a pre-interstellar flight race), and as such they began preparing for an invasion into Human space.

Unfortunately for the Vikar, Human technology was in fact more advanced than theirs, and the Human navy was both larger and more adept at warfare as a result of the recent Second Interstellar War. The only area of war where the Vikar had a noticeable advantage was in biotics, but ground combat was not the deciding factor in the war.

The Imperium's response was swift and devastating. The Imperial Navy's Second Fleet under Admiral Kastanie Drescher's command defeated the Subjugation Fleet at New Falklands in its entirety, and the Imperial Marines onboard the Fleet quickly recaptured the colony. What they found would horrify many. As the news of the brutal treatment of Human prisoners by the Vikar leaked into the Imperial populace, Humanity truly united for the singular purpose of removing the Vikar threat.

Admiral Drescher would end up leading the Imperial fleets that invaded Vikar Space, and even the most divisive of analysts would agree that she performed superbly. The 'Star-Hopping' campaign conducted by Drescher's combined fleet would lead to the discovery of the Ophen System in 2158 CE, where they discovered the Vikar-subjugated Opheni race. The Battle of Ophen III is widely considered to be the point where the Imperium effectively won the War. Firstly, the Ophen System Fleet represented a third of the entire Vikar navy, and Drescher's forces defeated them with comparatively light casualties. Secondly, the liberated Opheni were all too happy to hand over the location of the Vikar home system to the Imperium. In addition, once the Ophen System fell, there would only be three Vikar-controlled systems left (including their home system).

2159 CE saw the Imperium's invasion of the Vikar home system. The Battle of Pawl (the Vikar homeworld) was also the largest naval engagement of the War, where Humanity's first Super Dreadnought was revealed. At 1.25 kilometers of length, the SIS (Systems Imperium Starship) _Ascendence_ would quash what little hope the Vikar had of winning their conflict. The Vikar Master-of-Kings would be forced to submit to the Emperor in person by the end of the month, although not before he ordered the Vikar to commit ritual suicide to spite Humanity. Despite the fact that not all the Vikar followed his last command, a significant portion did, leading to several billion deaths.

In 2160 CE, the Human-Vikar War (also known as the First Contact War) officially ended as the last Vikar outpost was conquered. In recognition for her leadership and role in the Imperial victory, the House of Drescher was created as a Great House, given the Vikar Home Cluster to govern in the name of the Emperor. The Opheni Protectorate was created as a client state of the Imperium, and in exchange for paying tribute and a levy of ships and armies, the Opheni were allowed some autonomy. The First Contact War would set the tone for Imperial policy henceforth from that period, with the focus being placed on the dominance of the Imperium over its neighbors. This doctrine was known as the Drescher Doctrine, named after Admiral Kastanie Drescher.

* * *

 **Old Imperial Period**

The next two centuries would follow in a similar manner, with gradual human expansion occurring- the Imperium did not want to experience the overextension problems that had caused the downfall of the Consortium. In this time, the Imperium would come into contact with several races, some of them with fledgling star empires of their own. It soon became clear that in this sector of space, Humanity was the largest power, conditions which allowed the Drescher Doctrine to be utilized to its greatest effect. That led to the formation of the Krith Dependency and Datiri Protectorate in the early 2200s, both of them voluntarily joining the Imperium as client races after the Humanity's economic, military, technological and cultural dominance became clear. Other races, like the Navir, attempted complete isolationism from the Imperium. However, the promise of advanced Human medical technology that was needed to cure the endemic diseases that plagued the general Navir populace led to the Navir Civil War in 2262, with the Systems Imperium intervening in 2263. The Navir Protectorate was established five years later, in 2268.

On June 4, 2250 CE, at the age of 170 years of age (the extreme upper-bound of average human lifespan at the time), Emperor Antonius the Great passed away in his sleep. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest Human leaders of all time, and his legacy alone is enough for Humanity as a whole to hold a near-fanatical level of devotion to the House of Constantine. Notable alien supporters of the House of Constantine included the Opheni Protectorate as a whole, with the Patriarch/Matriarch of the House of Constantine being given the title of 'Protector of the Opheni'. He would be succeeded by Emperor Charles of the House of Constantine, his second son (the first, Nathaniel, was killed in an aircar accident in 2241 CE).

The reigning years of Emperor Antonius the Great would later be called the beginning of the Old Imperial Period, characterized by a chaotic start and gradual but constant expansion of the Imperium, with the peaceful and voluntary induction of other client races into the Imperium.

Emperor Charles' reign was in general a peaceful one for mankind, with few conflicts aside from the occasional border skirmish with the smaller alien powers. Much of his policies followed or were based on those of his father's rule, and they generally passed with little major effects on modern-day politics, save for his decision to intervene in the Navir Civil War. His reign ended just one day short of his 27th year in power, when he abdicated in favor of his eldest son Xavier. He would pass away ten years later, in 2288 CE.

Emperor Xavier's ascension to the Throne in 2277 CE was a quiet event, much like the rest of his reign. His policies did not differ much from that of his grandfather and father, but he did increase the importance of the Congress- namely in mandating that any Declaration of War required Congressional approval. However, Xavier's reign was cut short in December 27, 2329 CE, when he was assassinated in a bombing that led to the death of half of the Imperial ruling family, including the next five people in the line of succession. The sixth in the line of succession was found dead a day later, which prompted the Imperial Guard to fully mobilize. The seventh-in-line for the Throne, Princess Anastasia, was Xavier's youngest daughter, and was only sixteen at the time of her ascension to the Imperial Throne on January 2, 2330 CE. Historians generally agree that the Reign of Xavier is an extension of the Old Imperial Period, due to the similarities by both rulers. Empress Anastasia's enthronement is widely considered the end of the Old Imperial Period, and the beginning of the brief Retributive Period.

* * *

 **Retributive Period**

One of Empress Anastasia's main focuses during her first years as Empress was to find out who assassinated her father and every single one of her siblings, an investigation that the Imperial Guard and Imperial Intelligence did not take lightly. DNA samples from the assassins were found to be unrecognized anywhere in the Imperial Biological Database- something that indicated a previously unknown race.

In 2343 CE, the Imperium made first contact with the Pangar Matriarchate. The Pangar were a smaller empire than the Imperium, but had roughly similar levels of technology. Initial diplomatic contact was spearheaded by Ambassador Michael Udina, which ended abruptly as the Pangar refused to continue. Acting on his own intuition, Udina passed on his Ambassadorial title to his subordinate, Irena Shastri. His intuition would be proven correct when the Pangar immediately warmed up to the Imperium.

Michael Udina was at the time a close confidante of Empress Anastasia, and he shared his suspicions regarding the Pangar with her. Acting on his hunch, the Empress ordered Imperial Intelligence to acquire Pangar DNA samples. Although the results were kept secret from the public, the Imperium discovered that the assassins of Emperor Xavier and dozens of other Imperial family members were in fact Pangar.

The Imperium spent another four years investigating the Pangar, while the Empress called for another expansion for the Imperial Navy. Little by little, the Imperium discovered three things. First, the Pangar were entirely dominated by females. Second, this was not always the case, but had been enforced by the High Matriarchs of the Pangar centuries ago with males being genetically engineered to become subservient. Third, the Pangar removed any potential 'disturbance' to their power balance through the use of an assassin sect of males that were bound to the will of the High Matriarch. Pangar DNA between males and females contained subtle differences, and the ones of that the assassins left behind indicated males. How the Pangar inserted their assassins into the Imperium's core worlds remained a mystery at the time, but the Empress had deemed the evidence legitimate enough to prove without a doubt that the Pangar Matriarchate were responsible for the deaths of Emperor Xavier and other Imperial family members.

On December 27, 2347, exactly eighteen years after the assassination of Emperor Xavier, the Systems Imperium declared war on and invaded the Pangar Matriarchate. Empress Anastasia's speech that preluded the invasion revealed all the evidence to the Imperial public, and anger overtook the populace. The House of Constantine had been venerated universally among the Humans, and the murder of their Emperor years prior had not been forgotten by the Imperials. Imperial Guards led the charge on many of the attacks, with the Pangar quickly growing to fear their ferocity and brutality.

The Pangar's Border Worlds fell quickly to the domineering Imperial fleets, but the Middle Worlds held on longer, with the Mid-World Sieges lasting four years before they began to fall en masse. The first Imperial Arsenal Cruisers were responsible for breaking the stalemate, as the sheer number of the missiles that they could fire in a single barrage were enough to overwhelm the Pangar's point defense systems, and also served as capable orbital bombardment platforms.

As the Imperial Navy closed into the Pangar Home Cluster, the Pangar High Matriarch attempted to negotiate a truce. Their opening statements immediately showed the gulf in differences in Pangar and Human mindsets. The High Matriarch pointed out that they were directly responsible for removing 'weak males' from the Imperium's Throne (all but admitting that they were indeed responsible for the assassination), and that the Empress owed their power to the Matriarchate's actions. During her parley with the Empress, a Pangar kamikaze force began launching bioweapons onto Imperial worlds, targeting males. This had the effect of killing billions of Humans, nearly all of them male, thus creating a disparity between the female-male population. The Pangar bioweapon also led to a change in human birth rates in regards to gender, and every newborn human was 50% likelier to be female instead of male.

It is said that the Empress emotionlessly dismissed the High Matriarch, before ordering the Imperial Navy to wipe out all trace of the Pangar from the universe. The Imperial Navy's fleets in the forefront of the war were commanded by Admiral Jurgen Drescher, whose parents and younger sister had been killed in the same bombing that killed Emperor Xavier. He gladly acquiesced to the Empress' commands, and over the course of five years the Pangar Home Cluster was cleansed of all life. Any further attempt to negotiate was answered with death, and the War is generally thought to have been over by 2359 CE. The Pangar Home Cluster was later renamed to the Retribution Cluster, and the planets within were given to the Imperium's client states. Each former Pangar world holds a monument that states: 'Here lied members of the race who murdered Emperor Xavier, members of the Imperial Ruling Family and the Imperial Nobility. Planet Cleansed of Enemies of the Human Systems Imperium, 23- (depending on the year the planet was conquered)'.

The Retribution Monuments served as a reminder to the client races that the Imperial Throne and the Nobility were the true powers of the Imperium, and that any attempt to subvert or harm them would lead to certain death. Judging by the fact that there have been no rebellions in the client races since then, the Monuments were effective. Empress Anastasia, later known as the Revanchist, would continue to rule until her death by- of all things- a Pangar assassin in 2365 CE. The assassin would be killed by Anastasia herself before she succumbed to her wounds. She left behind a will that dictated Grand Duke Michael Udina be given the role of Regent until Crown Prince Magnus (her son) became of age (21 years old).

During his brief eight-year rule of the Systems Imperium, Duke-Regent Michael Udina would form several important Imperial organizations that would remain influential to this day, the Order of Anastasia being one of them. Being knighted as a Knight of the Order of Anastasia continues to be the only military decoration that automatically promotes a military officer to the Nobility (albeit not a hereditary title), and enlisted to the rank of Baronet and an officer's commission. As such, it is the highest military decoration, above the Star of Terra. Being Knighted into the Order of Anastasia requires the recipient to show courage and valorous leadership under fire, and each recipient must be judged worthy by the Throne and a panel of existing Knights (the first Knights were judged by the Throne). The legalization- and encouragement, in certain clusters- of polygamy occurred during this period, to help prevent the expected slump in population growth that would have occurred due to the Pangar bioweapon.

Duke-Regent Michael Udina would step down from his position on August 21, 2373 CE, the 21st birthday of Crown Prince Magnus of the House of Constantine, who would be coronated hours later as Emperor Magnus.

* * *

 **New Imperial Period**

The coronation of Magnus is widely considered to be the end of the Retributive Period, which had been characterized by the largest war fought by Humanity at the time, one that basically ended in genocide. Less than a hundred million Pangar survived the Human-Pangar War, and they were mostly on Pangar Border Worlds that were colonized in the other direction of Humanity's invasion. The Pangar Mandate, the overarching government of what remains of the Pangar race, is directly controlled by the Imperium, similar in structure to the Vikar Mandate, although it is under constant scrutiny from the Imperial military.

In August 24, 2374 CE, Emperor Magnus established the Imperial Star Alliance, a political and economic union of the Imperium and its client states. It bolstered trade between the client states, and allowed the Imperium to better showcase the benefits of becoming a client state when encountering new star nations. The Star Alliance's 'Capital' would initially be on Earth, but would later be transferred to Arcturus Station, the largest space station in Human Space. This move would later be held as one of the main factors that reinforced the dominance of the House of Hackett and House of Shastri due to their shared ownership of the Station. The Star Alliance was instrumental in the strengthening of the Imperium's economy. The Alliance would also be responsible for partitioning the Retribution Cluster for the various client states, with the Opheni being granted the largest portion due to their higher contribution to the Imperial Navy.

It was also during this time that the Imperial Genetic Research Center took on the task of correcting the effects of the Pangar bioweapon, a task that would take decades of research and hundreds of billions of credits.

In 2396 CE, the Imperial Navy's 51st Exploration Flotilla opened a dormant Relay, and entered the territory that Humanity would later learn was called the Attican Traverse. The initial point of entry would later be discovered to contain a habitable planet colonized by a previously unknown race. The flagship of the 51st Flotilla, the Paris-class Cruiser SIS _Manila_ , would attempt First Contact, but was fired upon instead by a squadron of frigate-weight warships. The 51st fought a controlled withdrawal to the Mass Relay, and jumped back into Imperial Space. Reinforcements came in the form of the 15th Fleet and the 63rd Scout Flotilla, and the combined Imperial forces jumped back into the system where the _Manila_ had been fired upon.

The hundred-ship strong force easily swept aside the meager ten frigates that had fired on them days ago, and proceeded to obtain orbital superiority over the alien planet. Imperial VIs and linguistics experts would take two full days to obtain a working translator, and the Imperium finally made contact with the aliens on the planet.

It would turn out that the natives of the planet (named Turvess) had fought off an slaver attack a month ago, and had assumed the Imperials were the returning slaver forces. The misunderstanding and the brief Human-Raloi War ended with the Imperium paying reparations to the Raloi in the form of twenty old Imperial Navy warships. It was in the middle of the final negotiations that the slavers attacked, and the Imperial ambassador Daniel Goyle made the Raloi an offer they could not refuse.

The Raloi Protectorate would be formed in record time, and the Imperial Navy would destroy the slaver attackers. This form of 'Peaceful Expansion' was later called the Goyle Doctrine, and would be adopted as official Imperial policy until the mid-2400s. In recognition of his efforts to expand the Imperium, the Lesser House of Goyle would be formed. Today, the House of Goyle is a powerful influence in the Imperial Diplomatic Corps, alongside the House of Udina and the House of Shastri.

The Imperial Navy then followed up with their Raloi Reclamation Campaign, spearheading invasions into Raloi colonies that had been invaded and conquered by the slavers. Both the Raloi and prisoners taken indicated that the slavers were a mix of races, although a disproportionate number were of a four-eyed race that were later discovered to be Batarians.

Given the fact that the Raloi had only settled five colonies before being invaded, the Campaign was a short one, albeit one that generated massive amounts of goodwill for the Imperium on Turvess.

The Imperium would discover that nearly every Mass Relay they encountered in the Traverse had been opened already, and that several of these Relay Systems had already been colonized. Curious at this, the Imperial Navy deployed several Scout Flotillas deeper into the Network, and scout expeditions would continue for the next decade, although the amount of skirmishes that these 'Scout' flotillas would engage in meant that by 2410 CE they had earned a reputation for producing the most experienced officers in regards to battle. The Imperium would later partition off the Traverse into the systems that had only been explored and not-yet colonized by alien powers, separating the rest into the Terminus Systems.

* * *

 **Traverse and Terminus**

Human expansion into the Traverse began in 2406 CE, with the establishment of the Horizon colony (primarily funded by the House of Lawson, with a smaller investment by the House of Okuda), quickly followed with the colonization of Mindoir in 2409 CE, jointly funded by the House of Shepard and the House of Udina. The House of Ashland and House of Goyle would fund the settlement of Yamm in 2411 CE, creating the first Imperial colonies in the Traverse, which later became the provincial capitals of the respective Clusters they settled in.

In 2414 CE, the Imperium discovered Omega Station. They had learned of its existence years prior during the interrogation of a Batarian pirate in 2408 CE (a working, if rudimental, translator had been developed by then), but the exact location hadn't been retrieved. The Imperium knew that the Station served as the diplomatic and trading capital of the Terminus Systems, and the perception (and a correct one, too) at the time was that diplomatic power grew from the barrel of a Mass Accelerator Cannon.

The temporary formation of the First Combined Armada by Emperor Magnus in orbit of Horizon to escort his flagship to Omega was done precisely to give him an advantage in any diplomatic dealings. In addition to the Imperial Guard Flotilla, the First Combined Armada was composed of the entire 3rd, 5th, 6th, 8th, 10th and 11th Fleets (Imp. Navy), with elements from every Auxiliary Fleet (Client State Navies), and the Ducal Guard Flotillas of House Manswell, Hackett, Shepard, Ashland, Udina and Shastri. This totalled up to 1,325 warships of varying classes. Led from the SIS _Victory_ , an Ascendence (Refit)-class Super Dreadnought, the Armada then began to make its way to Omega.

Many of the minor Terminus star empires and warlords assumed that the Armada was the forefront of a Citadel invasion force that was aimed right at Omega (due to their flight path), and had moved to intercept at the Nariph System Mass Relay, in the Pylos Nebula. The Terminus fleet was led by a detachment of Aria T'Loak's Omega Fleet. The unfamiliar ship profiles were enough for Fleet Commander Gatrieus Kuril to order the Fleet to stand down, and communications between Admiral Nathaniel Drescher and the Fleet Commander led to the Omega Fleet providing an 'escort' for the First Combined Armada to Omega Station.

The delegation to Aria T'Loak was composed of the Emperor, three Imperial Diplomatic Corps ambassadors, and an escort of Imperial Guards and Imperial Marine Commandos. Although it was tense, the negotiations proved fruitful- the Imperium purchased information regarding the state of the galaxy, learning of the Citadel Alliance and the three 'major' races of the Galaxy, and also learned of the Geth and the Quarian Migrant Fleet. When broached on the topic of the slaver raids, the Imperium learned that in the Terminus Systems and much of the Attican Traverse, slavery was a fact of life.

The four hours-long 'diplomatic meeting' ended with the Human Systems Imperium establishing an Embassy on Omega, although it was more like a fortress rather than a traditional embassy. A sizable Imperial Marine force was left to defend the Embassy, and Ambassador Charan Shastri took the post as the Imperial Ambassador to Omega and the Terminus. The Imperium's first diplomatic contact with the Batarian Hegemony, various warlords and the Terminus' minor star nations all took place on Omega.

Any plans for contact with the Citadel races were shelved by the Emperor's orders, with focus on expanding the Navy to secure the Traverse becoming the main concern for the first quarter of the 25th century. The Batarian Hegemony did not inform the Citadel Council of their new diplomatic contacts, although the Citadel already knew of the new player on the galactic stage (Citadel spies were a constant on Omega).

In general, the Imperium and the Imperial Star Alliance's diplomatic relations to the Terminus could be summed up as 'cold neutrality'. The Mass Relays into Imperial Space were turned into fortresses, and Imperial warships had orders to inspect every non-Imperial ship before allowing them into Imperial territory. This was extremely effective in crushing any potential pirate or slaver incursion before it could happen, and the power of the Imperial Navy became a source of worry for many petty warlords. It would be the catalyst to the formation of the Traverse Warlords Coalition and the Omega Syndicate, and both would eventually become more anti-Imperial factions as time went on.

The start of the Caleston Civil War in 2422 CE was suspected by many to be instigated by Imperial Intelligence. Supreme Master Baris Desala was the warlord of Caleston at the time, and his death caused the rift between his two lieutenants. A pro-Imperial faction would arise in the fifth month of war, suspected to be receiving funds from the Systems Imperium. The War would last until early 2424 (by then the death toll was in the tens of millions), when an Imperial Navy fleet entered the system, destroyed both sides' ships and entered high orbit of Caleston. The Imperialist faction on the ground launched a simultaneous attack, killing the leadership of the other two factions. By the time the Imperial Marines landed, the planet had already been consolidated under the pro-Imperial Asari Warlord Janina Dilaris. The Caleston Free State was allowed to remain independent of the Imperium, but the Mass Relay would fall under Imperial control.

The takeover of Caleston by the Imperium would later be considered the cause of the Traverse Conflicts, as warlords and their fleets would conduct raids on any Imperial freighter outside of Imperial Space. The Hegemony encouraged this, as they had begun to see the Imperium as a threat.

Human colonization of the Attican Traverse continued, albeit at a slower rate due to security concerns. In 2440 CE, Arvuna was colonized. As one of the worlds within the Caleston Rift Cluster, was quickly built up and fortified, with the Imperial Navy stationing the 18th Fleet there so that any invasion aimed at Caleston would have to deal with a two-pronged counterattack from the Relays and from within the Cluster.

The Skyllian Verge, where Imperial and Batarian Space connected, soon became the source of tensions between the two powers. The few Imperial colonies there (mostly minor mining outposts) were claimed to be 'infringing on rightful Batarian property' by the Hegemon of Khar'Shan.

* * *

 **Verge and the Citadel**

Emperor Magnus passed away in 2451 CE, at the age of 100, due to unspecified health problems. His heir, Crown Prince Valerian of the House of Constantine, be coronated a week after his father's death. The new Emperor Valerian discarded the Goyle Doctrine, seeing it as too outdated for the changing times.

In 2452 CE, he lifted the restriction on the colonization of the Skyllian Verge. Mindoir was the staging point for the colonization fleets, due to its proximity to the Verge. Over the course of the next eight years, two dozen colonies were settled in the Verge, one of them being Elysium in 2460 CE. The bulk of the funding for the Elysium Colony came from the House of Manswell and the House of Drescher, although the House of Anderson also contributed a significant portion.

In 2461 CE, the Imperium would formally contact the Citadel, although they did not join the Citadel Alliance. Low-level contact between the two entities had started since the early 25th Century, and several humans had already visited the Citadel and several Asari and Salarian planets in the past, but the establishment of the Imperial Consulate in 2462 CE allowed the Imperials and their client states to begin forming actual diplomatic ties with the Citadel races.

2463 CE saw the Batarian Hegemony petition the Citadel Council to declare the Skyllian Verge a zone of Batarian interest, as the Imperium had already claimed half of the valuable systems there by this time. The Hegemony had always been a thorn in the side of the other Citadel races, and the Council was wary of provoking the Imperium (due in part to the fact that it was a _much_ larger power than the Batarian Hegemony). The refusal of the Council led to the Hegemony leaving the Citadel Alliance as a whole in 2464 CE. Later that year, the Imperial and Citadel navies began opening the Relay that would connect the territories together, allowing for the Imperium to begin trading with the Citadel (seen at the time as a less risky endeavor than trading with the Terminus powers). The opening of the first trading lanes from Imperial to Citadel Space and vice versa would lead to corporations from both factions exporting goods to the each other, and several trade summits were set up on the Citadel itself.

* * *

 **First Skyllian Conflict**

January 2465 CE would see two important events occur. The first was the injury of Emperor Valerian, when the shuttle he was flying on malfunctioned and crashed. While the Imperials were preoccupied, the Batarian Hegemony began contacting the Traverse Warlords and Omega Syndicate, and a small fleet gathered on the outskirts of the Batarian-controlled sections of the Verge. The fleet would launch attacks on the Human colonies in Skyllian Verge, sparking the First Skyllian Blitz.

Of the fifteen human colonies targeted, only Elysium managed to resist the attack. The other fourteen were minor outposts that were lightly defended, and twenty thousand Humans as well as a few thousand Krith and Navir were enslaved by the raiders, while the Battle of Elysium led to the loss of the five cruisers and ten frigates that made up the Elysium Defense Fleet, although twenty-seven raider ships would be destroyed as well. The Fleet, however, bought time for the groundside garrisons to move into place. Although several thousand people would be enslaved by the end of the Battle, the groundside raiders were fought off by Imperial Marines under the leadership of Major Daniel Shepard, and the 63rd Scout Flotilla under the command of Rear Admiral Steven Hackett was able to retake Elysium's orbit.

Over the course of two weeks, the Imperial Navy would launch counterattacks to the colonies that they lost, although much of this was done at the discretion of Vice Admiral Moira Hall, the Commanding Officer of the Verge Sector Fleet (9th Fleet).

The incapacitation of the Emperor generated some uncertainty amongst Imperial Naval Command over how they would proceed, with Crown Prince Peter ordering a limited set of counterstrikes in retaliation to what would be known as the First Skyllian Blitz. As the eldest son of Emperor Valerian, Crown Prince Peter would take up the title of Prince Regent while his father was incapacitated.

Several attacks into known Hegemony puppet states in the Terminus were conducted by the Imperial Navy, although no annexations were undertaken. The Conference of Ujon, held in June 17, 2465 CE ended the First Skyllian Conflict, with Prince Regent Peter I signing the Ceasefire alongside Mejat'Amon, the Batarian Hegemon. Even so, both sides had already begun preparations for the war that they thought was inevitable. Emperor Valerian retook control of the Throne in early 2466, after spending over a year in recovery.

* * *

 **Second Skyllian Conflict and Mindoir**

On June 3, 2470 CE, a Hegemony-funded and supplied fleet of pirates and raiders attacked the Imperial colonies in the Skyllian Verge. Initially thought to be a minor attack, the Imperial Navy was caught off-guard, and several colonies were besieged. The Quick Response Fleets of the Imperial Navy, however, proved to be able to rescue those colonies in time. What the Imperium didn't know at the time was that the Blitz was a mere diversionary attack, with a smaller but more well-equipped fleet striking the Imperial colony of Mindoir, in the Attican Traverse.

Mindoir was chosen for two reasons. First, it was meant to signify the vulnerability of Human worlds even in Imperial Space, and second, it was home to House Shepard. Brigadier General Daniel Shepard (ret.) was the Major who took charge of the Elysium ground forces during the First Blitz, and inflicted humiliating defeats on the Hegemony on other fronts during the First Skyllian Conflict. The attack on Mindoir was meant to be an act of revenge.

Mindoir's defenses were considered top-notch in the Imperium, but saboteurs managed to scramble the radars and firing systems of 3 of Mindoir's 5 Orbital Defense Stations. The small defense flotilla managed to buy several hours for the colony to be evacuated underground, while a single Imperial corvette managed to escape the system to call for reinforcements.

On the ground, the Imperial Army and Colonial Militia were rallied by Brigadier General Daniel Shepard, and over the course of two days pirates and raiders would be engaged in urban combat. On the third day into the Battle of Mindoir, the attackers discovered one of the major bunkers, and had begun preparations to forcibly enter. Despite the best efforts of the Army and Militia, the defenders failed to stop the raiders from breaking in. Murder, torture and rape were distressingly common acts for the raiders, and it is known that two of the General's younger siblings and their families were killed during the third and fourth day of the Battle. The General himself was fatally wounded on the fourth night.

On the fifth day of the Battle, the Imperial Navy finally reentered the system, and after a short engagement, retook orbital control of Mindoir. Without orbital support, the raiders on the ground attempted to surrender. The Militia summarily executed them, with several reports of torture arising. House Shepard's ranks were severely depleted by the end of the Battle- of those that were on Mindoir, only a small number survived. Victor and Katherine Shepard, the two oldest children of Brigadier Daniel Shepard (born 2452 and 2454 respectively), fought their first battle here.

Enraged by the events at Mindoir, the Navy cut a swathe through the Batarian Verge colonies, razing all the ones that were captured. Most of the attacks involved House Shepard warships, and it is known that the orbital bombardment of the Kazar Colony in the Batarian-held Verge was personally ordered by Rear Admiral Samuel Shepard, a cousin of the late Brigadier Daniel Shepard. However, the brutality of the Imperial counterattack incurred condemnations from the Asari Republics (the largest economy in the galaxy at the time), and the Asari ambassador called for a peace summit to 'prevent further escalation'.

After several months of conflict, Emperor Valerian signed the Treaty of Anhur, ending the Second Skyllian Conflict. He also issued the ultimatum that any future Batarian attack would lead to total war. This declaration was met with diplomatic support from both the Turian Hierarchy and Salarian Union, while the Asari Republics denounced the statement as 'blatantly hostile and unhelpful to the goal of reducing tensions'. It is known that the Emperor had to resort to coercion in order to force House Shepard into ceasing their raids.

* * *

 **The Buildup**

The Imperium began initiating total war preparations in 2471, laying down the keel for five new dreadnoughts (bringing the total to 40) and five new supercarriers (bringing the total to 45), while several hundred other ship-classes would be constructed to bolster the standing Naval forces. Of the Noble Houses, it was House Shepard and its close allies that dedicated their substantial resources to assisting the build up- the _Victory_ -class Dreadnoughts SIS _Daniel Shepard_ and SIS _Thalia S_ _hepard_ , and the _Reliant_ -class Supercarrier SIS _Mira Shepard_ were basically paid for and built by House Shepard, a fact that is not lost on any observers. This act alone showed that the capabilities of House Shepard were on par with that of a small star nation, capabilities that every other Imperial Great House could match or exceed.

Humanity outmatched the Batarians in most aspects- in fact, from a practical standpoint, the Batarian Hegemony's constant attempts to attack the Imperium could be construed as pure folly. The Imperials thought that they were being lenient and giving the Hegemony another chance, and preventing any diplomatic crisis with the Citadel Alliance over any overtly-aggressive acts. However, the Batarian mindset was that the Imperials were weak for not bothering to respond to any attacks, and that this would continue to be the case. In short, both sides misread what their actions could be construed as in the eyes of their foe.

* * *

 **Imperial-Batarian War**

Tensions between the Imperium and the Hegemony would remain cold for several years, with minor brushfire conflicts occurring with the Traverse Warlords. It would all come to a head on March 20, 2476 CE.

Within the span of two hours, the Emperor and Crown Prince were assassinated, along with several prominent Admirals and Generals. Several highly-ranked nobles were also killed by the assassins, throwing the Imperium into disarray.

It is generally accepted that the Batarians were the ones behind the assassinations, due to their invasion of both the Verge and several sectors of the Imperial-controlled Traverse mere hours after the act was done. At the same time, raider flotillas and pirate fleets under the command of the Traverse Warlords attacked Caleston and several other colonies in that Cluster. The Omega Syndicate, led by Aria T'Loak, was ostentatiously neutral, although they ended up providing economic support to the Traverse Warlords and Batarian Hegemony. There is substantial evidence suggesting that the Batarian Hegemony had believed that Aria would enter the war on their side, although actual combat support from the Pirate Queen never materialized.

In a rushed coronation ceremony on March 21, 2476 CE, Princess Alexandra was crowned as Empress, and made the declaration of War against the Batarian Hegemony and 'any other entity that supports them'. Although the circumstances of her ascension to the throne are remarkably similar to that of her great-grandmother, Empress Alexandra was not the sole surviving child of Emperor Valerian, but the only one that was of age (she'd turned 21 a week before).

 _Elysium_

Elysium, which had fallen under siege in the first day of the War, became a hotly contested battleground. While many officers had been killed in the fighting, causing disarray in the Elysium military command, a combined squad led by Second Lieutenant Victor Shepard managed to hold off a superior number of Hegemony troops at a critical entrance to the capital city, allowing Central Command to regain control of the Elysium defenders. Unlike the battle that had occurred eleven years ago, the invaders were well-trained and well-equipped, and inflicted heavier casualties. Even so, the defenses held long enough for the Imperial Navy's 2nd Fleet to counterattack. Victor Shepard was promoted to First Lieutenant after the Battle despite his age, and became a known face in the Imperium for his actions, touted as the Lion of Elysium- the man who held the lines together.

The first and second years of the Batarian War were relatively low-intensity, with most of the fighting done in skirmishes, although the Battles of Caleston and Akuze proved to be deciding factors for the War, with the first knocking out the Traverse Warlords' fleets in its entirety and the latter souring the Hegemony's reputation among Citadel Space.

 _First and Second Caleston_

The First Battle of Caleston, which occurred at the start of the war, ended as a draw- the Imperial Navy and the Caleston Defense Flotilla lost the Relay to the Warlord fleets, but kept control of the immediate space surrounding Caleston. The next month saw both sides reinforce their fleets there, although the Traverse Warlords would have more ships deployed. This was due to the fact that the Imperial Navy was fighting on multiple fronts, while the Warlords were only fighting on one. It was clear, however, that the Imperials held the advantage in terms of skill, discipline and coordination. Even so, the Imperials' initiation of the Second Battle of Caleston seemed like folly to most observers. One hundred warships- the entirety of the Caleston Defense Flotilla- approached the Relay from Caleston, and engaged five hundred Traverse warships. This caught the Traverse commanders off-guard, and their attempts at coordination fell flat as two hundred more Imperial warships (composed of the 5th and 10th Fleets) joined the attack from 'above' and to the spatial 'left' of the Traverse formation. The 5th Fleet's flagship, the SIS _Daniel Shepard_ , made the most decisive kill of the Battle, destroying the flagship of Warlord Arlas Kran (the only Warlord that the other warlords would agree to follow), leading to a rout where the splintered Traverse fleets broke formations. A near-reckless charge by a squadron of 10th Fleet warships under the command of Commodore Irene Drescher saw the Relay recaptured, sealing off any hope of escape for the Traverse ships. Knowing the Imperial MO regarding pirates- namely, summary execution by spacing- the Traverse ships redoubled their efforts. In the end, however, it did not change a thing. Of the five hundred and twenty-six Traverse warships, only five surrendered. Their crews, as per standard procedure, were spaced. These five hundred or so warships represented forty-five percent of the combined Warlord fleets, and they required the rest to defend their home territories (largely as a deterrence against their own 'allies'), thus leading the Second Battle of Caleston to be the knockout blow for the Warlords in this war.

Vice Admiral Steven Hackett, the Commanding Officer of the Imperial Fleets at the Second Battle of Caleston, would become a household name in the Imperium for his victory.

 _Akuze_

The Battle of Akuze, which began on March 22, 2477, was also important for the Imperium. Akuze was one of the few colonies the Imperium settled during the buildup- at the time of the Battle of Akuze, it was only four years old, with a population of one thousand. The Hegemony chose to utilize Akuze to test their Thresher Maw Control program, deploying a small squad of handlers and unleashing five Maws on Akuze. Although the Batarians found that they could not actually control of the Maws, the damage was done- the Akuze colony was essentially wiped out over the course of one day. An Imperial Cadet team from the Imperial Battle School Earth was visiting Akuze for a training exercise with several Imperial Marines, and of the eight Cadets and twelve Marines, only three people survived the confrontation- Corporal Kevin Toombs, Cadet Astoria Shepard (a younger sister of Lieutenant Victor Shepard) and Cadet Richard Jenkins. The three were also the only Human survivors on the entire planet. Escaping the main colony alive but wounded, the three rushed for the Corell Mountain Range, knowing that the denser ground there would be harder for the Maws to tunnel through. It was there that they stumbled onto the Batarian handler squad, a happenstance that occurred through sheer dumb luck. It would later be revealed that the Batarian ship that the handlers used to deploy the Maws was damaged during the drop by Maw acid, meaning they couldn't get off-world. The ten-man crew of the ship landed the vessel in a clearing within the Mountain Range, hoping to repair the ship. Despite being outnumbered, the three Imperials managed to take down all the Batarians through the use of the element of surprise. When the Imperial Navy Light Cruiser _Norwich_ arrived on August 25, 2477, the marine detachment found a Batarian corvette crewed by three Imperials parked around the corpses of five Thresher Maws, which they could track due to the trackers the Batarians injected. All three Imperials were awarded the Star of Terra, and Cadet Astoria Shepard remains the youngest recipient of the combat decoration at fifteen years old, and Cadet Richard Jenkins remains the second-youngest recipient, being only a few months older than his counterpart.

Outrage at the use of thresher maws to butcher innocents drove the Citadel Alliance firmly onto the Imperial side, and the Turian Hierarchy enforced a nationwide embargo on Batarian goods among their planets and that of their protectorates, while the Salarian Union and Asari Republics both increased the tariffs on Batarian products. The Turian 'embargo' was enforced by their Fleet, and the Hierarchy had effective jurisdiction on 60% of all Relays from Hegemony Space into Citadel Space, thus increasing the effect it had. Regardless, every Citadel Treaty signatory state followed the example set by the Council Member states, leading to an economic crisis of unprecedented levels in the Batarian Hegemony.

* * *

 **Siege of Torfan**

The steady advance of the Imperial military came to a halt on April 10, 2478. Although the Traverse Warlords were basically out of the fight, the only known way into core Batarian Space was through the Torfan Relay. Torfan was a moon that was colonized centuries ago by criminals, although the Batarian Hegemony officially annexed it in 2472 (in truth, they'd unofficially controlled Torfan since the beginning). The sole Mass Relay leading to the Kite's Nest Cluster (core Batarian Space) that was within easy striking distance to the Imperium was gravitationally anchored to Torfan, and that made taking Torfan a priority. An approach to the Relay with a Batarian-controlled Torfan would have led to a wholesale slaughter of the attackers due to the sheer number of groundside Anti-Space Batteries.

Nearly a thousand Imperial warships attacked the system, backed by several hundred allied ships from their client states. Despite the heavy losses incurred, the space battle was a certain Imperial victory, but it was the ground invasion that was thought to be uncertain. Torfan was fortified to a ridiculous degree, and any ship passing through the Relay would have to go under its guns. Thus, a ground invasion was authorized, and several million Imperial Marines and Army soldiers began their attack. Torfan had surface cities as well as underground cities, although most important defenses were hidden underground.

The fighting was bloody, and chaotic. Streets and corridors were booby-trapped, and the many automated defenses that Torfan sported were carefully hidden, thus leading to many surprise ambushes. Slaves were injected with liquid explosives, and forced to run to the Human positions. Over the course of a week, over 100,000 Imperial troops died in battle. A large portion of the senior officer corps were specifically targeted by the Batarian defenders, to the degree that companies being commanded by mere lieutenants and entire battalions being led by mere captains. On the eighth day of the Siege of Torfan, the Mass Relay activated and sent several hundred Batarian ships through. A significant portion were lightly armored civilian ships filled to the brim with high explosives, while the rest were troopships with decoy drones. The kamikaze ships split into two formations, one headed for the Imperial blockade and another flying straight at the Imperial ground positions. The Imperial warships managed to take down the fleetbound kamikazes without any losses, but could only stop half of the kamikazes aimed at the Imperial ground positions. By the end of the day, 1.5 million Batarian army troops had been deployed to Torfan, and nearly a million Imperial Army and Marines were killed by the kamikazes. Command fell to the brevet-promoted Brigadier Simon Kyle, who was a mere Major at the start of the Siege. The brevet-promoted Colonel Victor Shepard (who was a Captain at the start of the Siege) served as the second in command, but this arrangement did not last long. Brigadier Kyle's command post was infiltrated by Batarian Special Intervention Unit commandos, and though he was not killed, the injuries he sustained incapacitated him. The SIU's mission soon became clear as every officer ranking Captain and above were targeted. Colonel Shepard knew that losing Kyle was a terrible blow for the Imperial forces, and thus decided to play a gamble. Torfan's underground cities were the main strongpoints of the Batarian defenses, with the surface fortifications generally being an afterthought.

The Colonel mustered an assault force of 45,000 Marines and Army soldiers, named Task Force Zealot. He passed command of Zealot to his sister, Major Katherine Shepard (who had started the Siege as a First Lieutenant), with orders to siege one of the moderately important outer underground cities that contained a power generator that provided half of Torfan's electrical needs. This was Phase One of Operation Ferret. In the meantime, he ordered a general advance for Imperial forces, with the aim of causing the Batarians to panic at being attacked on multiple fronts, allowing Zealot to take down the generator. The plan worked, as the Batarian forces were caught out of position- they had not expected an attack, as the SIU was thought to be doing an excellent job at keeping the Imperials unbalanced. Still, over 10,000 troops from Task Force Zealot would lose their lives in taking down the power generator, but the sudden loss of power caused many of the planetary defenses to go down for a brief moment, and required intense calibration before they could be reactivated. This was an important portion of Colonel Shepard's plan, as it would allow the Fleet to medevac the wounded and deploy Marine reinforcements. The brief respite where the Imperials had the upper hand lasted for several hours, were seven more underground cities were assaulted and taken over by Imperial Marines deployed from ships. Operation Ferret was considered a success, as it gave the Imperials full control of Torfan's southern hemisphere.

The morale boost, however did not last long- the SIU quickly identified the Shepard siblings as priority targets, and attempted to assassinate them when they were debriefing at the command post. Although the infiltration was not successful, the SIU commandos managed to fight their way through the Imperial forces at the command post. Of the fifty-two commandos, only four managed to survive the rushed attack, where they cornered the siblings. The following engagement was brief, with few public details, but it is known that the SIU commandos used polonium rounds, and that Colonel Victor Shepard's official cause of death is listed as radiation poisoning. It is rumored that some of the SIU commandos were in fact wounded and captured, and tortured to death by Major Shepard, who had become the CO of the Imperial frontline forces in the aftermath of her brother's death. The Batarian forces had hoped to brutalize the Imperial morale with the death of their vaunted commander, but it backfired spectacularly. Victor Shepard was an effective and respected officer and leader, but Katherine Shepard had a similar skillset in addition to being an excellent orator.

One day after the death of Colonel Victor Shepard, the brevet-promoted Lieutenant Colonel Katherine Shepard worked up the Imperial ground forces into a frenzy of anger and hatred in a single speech, and ordered a general advance once more. It should be noted that Imperial casualty rates increased during this offensive- the more reckless assaults provided spectacular successes, but also higher chances of getting killed. Even so, the Imperials managed to break the aboveground Batarian forces into broken formations in a few days of frenzied battles, and quickly surrounded the eight remaining underground cities. The Lieutenant Colonel then offered the Batarians a chance to surrender, an offer that was rudely rebuffed.

The legend of the Butcher of Torfan formed that day. Shepard calmly ordered the Imperial forces to bring out the Batarian prisoners that they had captured, and only those of enlisted ranks. She ensured that only Marines from the 105th Division (Victor Shepard's old command) and House Guardsmen from House Shepard and its allies handled the final stages. At each of the eight underground cities, a hundred Batarians were executed every hour in a method that every Batarian would come to fear- eye gouging by the use of hemorrhage-inducing acid (developed by House Shepard in the aftermath of Mindoir, where they were first used to execute Batarian prisoners) which led to them bleeding to death from the eyes itself. Batarians as a culture believed that the eyes were the gateways of the soul, and the loss of their eyes meant that their souls would forever be stuck in the mortal realm, unable to ever reunite with dead loved ones in the afterlife. Shepard herself personally conducted the first execution, which was broadcasted into the underground cities in High Definition. At the start of each hour, the offer of surrender (the terms included lawful treatment as prisoners of war, and not as pirates as Shepard had been doing to the executed Batarians). The Imperial Navy officers in charge of the Torfan Campaign gave their tacit approval of this- in any case, it was unlikely that they could have stopped Shepard, given her rank and status among the groundside forces, never mind her status as the heiress of House Shepard.

After 24 hours, 19,200 Batarians had been executed in such a manner, and two of the underground cities had fallen into civil war as defeatists attempted to wrest control from the loyalist Batarians. Shepard then increased the 'Quota' to two hundred Batarians per city, and this continued for another eight hours before another three cities fell into strife. It should be noted that Lieutenant Colonel Shepard did not consider the executions to be of any importance- it was a mere distraction for the Batarians, while Imperial infiltrators and engineers began scanning the underground cities' blast doors for weaknesses. These blast doors rendered the anti-orbital weapons impervious to orbital bombardment. Eventually, on the twelfth hour of the second day, the Imperial engineers managed to find a way to destroy the blast doors, although it would require a ridiculous amount of high explosive. In another four hours (with the executions still ongoing), the blast doors had been rigged to blow. 41 hours after the first executions, Shepard reiterated the offer of surrender, saying that it would be the last, and was again rebuffed. Unlike every other time she made the offer, Shepard did not cut the feed. She brought along a special prisoner- the only son of Torfan's Governor, and one of the SIU commandos that had killed her brother. Unlike the other executions, which were at least done swiftly (albeit extremely painfully), Shepard extended this execution, using smaller amounts of acid to prolong the suffering. It took over thirty minutes for the commando to die, during which the Governor had broken down completely. Defeated, he then offered to surrender, only to be rebuffed by Shepard, who had by then pulled back her troops to a safe distance- leaving behind every Batarian prisoner that was not an officer behind, tied and bound to the blast doors. She detonated the explosives, destroying the blast doors and killing every prisoner tied there, before ordering a heavy orbital bombardment to the now exposed cities.

Although it was classified as a garden world (if barely), the Imperials were not signatories of the Citadel Conventions, and thus orbital bombardment was merely politically unfeasible, not illegal. Katherine Shepard bypassed this entirely by using the House Shepard Frigate Squadrons attached to the Fleet, and like her executions, this was done with Admiral Kara Thompson's tacit approval. The first barrage consisted of asteroids launched by mass drivers (a weapon that most Navy frigates did not have, as they were power hogs when active and took up a substantial amount of space), followed by conventional mass accelerator and missile bombardment. By the end of the ten minute bombardment, there were no survivors in the eight cities that once had a combined population of 5.1 million. The Siege of Torfan was over, and the Butcher of Torfan was born.

The aftermath of Torfan was a political disaster. Asari-Imperial Relations soured even further, while the Turian Hierarchy and Salarian Union gave lip service to the Asari Republics' condemnation of both the 'Butcher' and the Imperium. Still, with Torfan under Imperial control the Batarian military was largely restricted to the Kite's Nest Cluster (their other Mass Relay connections were to Citadel Space and two Batarian Colonial Clusters), which made it a tactical success for the Imperial military.

Within the Imperium itself, opinion was divided on how Torfan was handled. The Great Houses either stayed neutral or supported House Shepard, and few Lesser Houses would have the political capital needed to survive speaking against a Great House. Outside the Nobility, there was more negative sentiment. Activists decried the actions of Katherine Shepard as 'barbaric' (and were sued for libel by House Shepard soon after, with varying degrees of success), but any attempt to punish the Butcher of Torfan fell flat as nearly every flag officer spoke out in support of her (or remained silent). The debacle ended three weeks after the end of the Siege, when Empress Alexandra personally made her brevet-rank as a Major in the Marine Corps official (it was a 2-paygrade jump), and awarded her the Star of Terra.

* * *

 **Torfan's Aftermath**

The Siege of Torfan is widely considered to be the battle that hammered the final nail into the Hegemony's coffin. In the weeks following the end of the Siege, the Hegemony discretely requested the Citadel Alliance to mediate a ceasefire agreement with the Imperials.

The Imperial Navy, however, did not fully give up their momentum. The Primary Relay connected to the one at Torfan was captured by several cruiser squadrons a week after Torfan, and soon enough a large Imperial fleet was stationed on the other end of the Relay. This was the Imperium's foothold in the Kite's Nest. The Attican Traverse, which had been quiet after the Second Battle of Caleston, became the Imperials' new target as several thousand warships began their invasion. Concentrated firepower ensured that most of the remaining Warlord planets near the Imperium fell with laughable ease. By the end of 2478, the Imperial Navy and Auxiliary Fleets from its Client States had taken over several hundred worlds spread across three Clusters from the Traverse Warlords. Most of the terrestrial combat that occurred during this stage of the war had been undertaken by Imperial Client States, being one of the few instances where the Client State armies outnumbered those of the Human forces.

January 6, 2479 saw the Asari Republics invite the Systems Imperium and Imperial Star Alliance to negotiate a peace treaty with the Batarian Hegemony onboard the Citadel. The Imperial delegation, composed of the Empress and several diplomats, left for the Citadel onboard the Heavy Cruiser SIS _Shanghai_ , escorted by several cruiser and frigate squadrons. The Batarian Hegemon arrived on the Citadel on a similar vessel, albeit with a larger escort. Still, there was no question as to which side had supremacy.

It was quickly made clear, however, that any peace treaty was unlikely. The Imperial demands were for the banning of slavery, and to finalize the borders as they were at the moment- including their Relay within the Kite's Nest Cluster itself. The Batarians, on the other hand, wanted the Butcher of Torfan handed over to them, and for the old borders to be reinstated (an unrealistic position at best, but any less would have led to the Hegemony falling to civil war). Six days of fruitless negotiations would pass, during which the Imperium finished consolidating their hold over the conquered Traverse Clusters, and reinforced the Torfan Fleets.

On January 13, 2479, the Imperial delegation made their final offer, but with the Kite's Nest Relay as well as Torfan returned to Hegemony control, with conditions attached. The offer was denied, and the Imperials left the Citadel.

One hour later, the Imperial Navy entered the Kite's Nest en masse.

* * *

 **Invading the Kite's Nest**

The Hegemon's Battle Armada was the official name for the Batarian Hegemony's navy, and was once considered to be a powerful force in the galaxy. At its height, it was arguably capable of contending (to some degree) with the Salarian fleet. This was prior to the booming of the slave trade in the Terminus, and before the annexation of Esan. These events led to the marginalization of the Hegemony's economy, which had a negative effect on their fleet. By the 2400s, the Battle Armada was composed of mainly cruisers and frigates, most of them old. Officially, they numbered slightly above 2,500 warships, with seven dreadnoughts and twelve pocket dreadnoughts, but the vast majority of these warships were several hundred years old, and poorly maintained. Prior to the Invasion of the Kite's Nest, the Armada had lost over 1,100 warships, with a similar number being damaged to varying degrees. They had lost two of their dreadnoughts and four of their pocket dreadnoughts, but the remainder was concentrated in the Harsa System, which contained the Batarian homeworld.

The Imperial force that invaded Harsa numbered 2,105 warships, most of which were crewed by experienced officers and crewmen. This included two of the five Imperial Super Dreadnoughts, as well as a dozen Dreadnoughts and Supercarriers each.

Fleet Admiral Zheng Liu, the overall commander of the Combined Fleet, then split his force into two detachments. Two hundred ships under Admiral Gina Reyes headed for Spekilas, which they easily conquered after driving off several Batarian cruiser squadrons. The majority of the Fleet beelined their way in Khar'Shan's direction.

Half an hour after the initial Invasion, five hundred additional warships entered the Kite's Nest, belonging to the Imperial Auxiliary Fleets under the command of the Raloi Protectorate Navy Admiral Halas-Va, most of these ships being cruisers and frigates. They conducted a risky FTL jump to Verush, the sole gas giant in the system. There, they encountered several hundred Batarian ships making rushed preparations to join the fight. Having the element of surprise on their side allowed the Auxiliary Fleet warships to dominate the opening moves of the Battle of Verush, which also came to be named the Great Verush Turkey Shoot in the Imperium. Although a hundred Auxiliary warships would be destroyed, the attack was highly successful- in addition to downing two of the five remaining Batarian dreadnoughts and half of the remaining pocket dreadnoughts, three hundred Batarian warships of varying classes were destroyed as well, and the infrastructure on Verush was captured (relatively) intact.

The main force of the Combined Fleet then neared the Harsa Asteroid Belt, where several hundred Batarian ships laid in wait to ambush the Fleet. It would have been successful, save for the fact that the Fleet used Shockwave Bombs to clear their path. These were sonic-based weapons that were relatively useless against starships, but extremely effective at destroying asteroids. The shrapnel from these asteroids basically skewered the Batarian ships lying in wait, which had their barriers and drive cores offline to ensure stealth. It should be noted that the only reason the Fleet had shockwave bombs was due to the House Shepard detachment, which wanted to test their newly designed weaponry- in short, the Batarian ships were wiped out by a weapons test. This was something that would amuse and galvanize Imperial Naval Command for years to come, the former due to the sheer randomness of it and the latter due to the uncomfortable realization of how close they were to a tactical disaster.

Quickly conquering Dezda, which only had a dozen frigates guarding it, the Fleet then made their way to their primary target- Khar'Shan. The remainder of the entire Batarian fleet was entrenched in Khar'Shan's orbit, which would have made for a bloody fight.

* * *

 **Besieging Khar'Shan**

Fleet Admiral Zheng, however, took a page from Major Katherine Shepard's book, and used the mass drivers on his ships to fling asteroids at Khar'Shan from far away. Since the Imperium had never signed the Citadel Conventions, this was not illegal, and the Fleet Admiral had asked and was given permission to use orbital bombardment from the Empress prior to the Invasion. The aim was not to destroy Khar'Shan or its defenses, although that was considered a bonus. The asteroids would force the Batarian fleet to split its attention between the encroaching Imperial fleet and the asteroids that would utterly decimate their homeworld's population.

Unbeknownst to the Imperials, the Batarians had fallen into a low-intensity civil war after the failure of the negotiations on the Citadel. This flared up as soon as the news of the approaching swarm of asteroids, with many low-ranking Batarians not wanting a continuation of war. The higher-ranked Batarians knew that their status and power was on the line if they surrendered, and thus enforced more draconian policies to ensure they kept control.

The first barrage of asteroids numbered slightly above four hundred, and came with a transmission demanding the Batarian surrender. It was rebuffed, and the civil war on Khar'Shan flared up further. Ships were ordered to not move out of position to intercept the asteroids, although some went anyway, going against orders. Those ships were quickly isolated and destroyed by roving wolfpacks of Imperial frigates and cruisers. Further ships that attempted to leave their posts were shot and destroyed by the other Batarian ships, on the order of their High Admiral. The high-ranked officers had already moved their families to the other colonial clusters, and were generally unconcerned for the wellbeing of the low caste civilians on-planet.

An hour later, Fleet Admiral Zheng reiterated his offer, and was again refused. He promptly doubled the number of asteroids in the barrage, and fired. By this time, the first barrage had already begun nearing Khar'Shan, with many ships firing in an attempt to whittle down the sheer number of asteroids inbound. Of the original four hundred asteroids, only five hit Khar'Shan's surface, although only one hit an urban area. Even so, it was enough to push reticent Batarian units into joining the rebels that had begun laying siege to the army bases and groundside weapon emplacements, in addition to the Hegemon's Palace. The Hegemon had remained on Khar'Shan due to the fact that it was his base of power- as soon as he left, he would no longer be Hegemon.

When it was discovered that the next wave had eight hundred asteroids, the Batarian rebels dropped into a frenzy, and attacked with mindless abandon. In space, the situation was more reserved, if similar. On several Batarian ships, mutinies occurred, reaching a crescendo as the Batarian flagship itself began suffering from one.

By the third hour, when Fleet Admiral Zheng calmly informed the Batarian Fleet Commander that the next barrage would contain 1,600 asteroids, the bridge crew's lower-ranked personnel mutinied. A short gunfight then occurred, and a Batarian Lieutenant-Commander took over, telling Admiral Zheng that he would surrender as soon as he had gained control over the Fleet. At this point, the eight hundred asteroids from the second barrage had begun arriving.

Several short transmissions then followed, and the mutineers on many ships gained the upper hand, and began sending assault shuttles to board the other Batarian ships. The Planetside Defenses were then ordered to fire upon the Rebel-controlled warships, although by then several of these emplacements had been taken over by the Rebels themselves. In this barrage, over a hundred asteroids managed to make landfall on Khar'Shan, killing over thirty million people. The Hegemon, which had left the planet after the second barrage had begun arriving, attempted to make his way to orbit, where he was shot down by the former flagship of the fleet.

Minutes later, the Lieutenant-Commander that had made the deal with Fleet Admiral Zheng took up the title of Chief Administrator, and took over the Batarian fleet. He then offered his surrender. The Third Barrage was never fired. Khar'Shan had submitted.

* * *

 **Conference of Adek and Postwar**

The end of the Imperial-Batarian War was made official with the Conference of Adek, held on March 21, 2479- exactly three Earth years after the declaration of war. The Treaty of Adek, signed by the Empress Alexandra on behalf of the Systems Imperium and the Imperial Star Alliance and First Syndic Ka'hairal Balak on behalf of the Unitary Batarian People's Syndicate (referred to in common parlance as the Batarian Syndicate). The Treaty recognized that any former Batarian territories outside of the Kite's Nest and the two Batarian-held Colonial Clusters were Imperial Territories, and that the Skyllian Verge was an Imperial Territory. It also stipulated that slavery was illegal, and that enslavement of an Imperial race was to be punished with extradition to Imperial authorities. The Harsa Relay was also to remain as an Imperial outpost, and any ship exiting the Kite's Nest through the Torfan Relay could be checked at will by the Imperial military.

The Treaty was surprisingly lenient, and was only structured this way due to the Sanves Agreement, brokered by Matriarch Benezia T'Soni on behalf of the Asari Republics and the Systems Imperium. In return for allowing the new Batarian government to maintain sovereignty, the Asari reduced the existing trade barriers they had with the Imperials.

Had it not been done covertly, the Sanves Agreement would have caused civil unrest within the Republics, as the Batarians weren't popular there. The purpose of the Batarians, in the Citadel Council's (and especially the Asari Republics') eyes, was that of a buffer state between them and the Terminus Systems (and later on, the Imperium). With most of the former 'Batarian Space' under Imperial control, the Citadel would share an extremely lengthy border with what was now the second-largest empire in the galaxy, and one that had a tendency of using force to solve issues. They concluded that the Citadel had a choice of descending into a Cold War (much like their relations with the Terminus), or to cozy up with the Imperials. The former would have been unpopular due to the booming trade between the Imperials and the Turians (who would have been against it), and the latter would have been difficult given existing Asari policies. The Salarians, who were also worried about bordering a potentially hostile superpower, were the ones to suggest the Sanves Agreement with the Asari. The new purpose of the Batarians was thus to create a second front against the Imperium in the event of a Citadel-Imperial conflict, to divide the Imperial forces to an additional frontline. The Imperials, on their part, were aware of this, but chose to go ahead with it as they believed they could easily quash the Batarians if needed- after all, they had a foothold in the Batarian capital and home system! The tradeoff of a 'small' risk in exchange for trade agreements with the largest economy in the galaxy was considered to be a good one. The Batarians themselves believed that existing as an independent (if highly humbled and weakened) state was better than existing as an Imperial puppet, and if the only way to ensure that was to sign a secret defensive pact with the Citadel...well, getting their old territories back would only be easier if the Imperials were distracted by the Citadel.

Thus ended the brutal, if relatively brief, Imperial-Batarian War.

The Imperials surprised many when they sent their Reconstruction Brigades to Khar'Shan to assist in postwar recovery, and act that has generated some goodwill between the formerly warring races. Even so, its current policy to the Batarian Syndicate is one of cautious neutrality. Trade is still highly limited, and it isn't as if the Batarians have much to offer at this point. The Batarian Syndicate did rejoin the Citadel Alliance as an Associate Member in 2481, although it remains noncommittal on many treaties.

Imperial efforts to break into the newly-opened Asari economy has been met with mixed success. Novelty goods and entertainment industries have seen some breakthroughs, but aside from HE3 Mining, there are few industries where the Imperials have attained a significant market share. Even so, it's still early days for this effort, and the Imperial companies aren't giving up anytime soon, given how large the Asari economy is.

On the political front, there has been much effort for the Imperials to foster cooperation with the Citadel, something that is reciprocated with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Human-Turian relations are probably the best of the three Imperial-Council relations, mainly due to a similar governing style (a meritocratic autocracy and a pseudo-aristocratic autocracy), similar mindsets (aggressive colonialism), and mutual respect of each other's pointy sticks. An undercurrent of tension exists between the two regarding future expansion, but this is unlikely to be a major issue for at least a century. Human-Salarian relations are less intense, but aren't cold by any means. Imperials generally respect Salarian prowess in technological assimilation and improvement, while remaining wary of the Salarian stereotype of persistent espionage. The Salarians, for their part, acknowledge the competency of Imperial Intelligence, but do not bother with any initiatives due to the lack of a significant 'common border' with the Humans (only one Salarian Relay leads to Imperial Space, and it is part of Salarian fringe territory). Human-Asari relations are quickly improving (by the rate of the latter, not the former) from their near-Cold War status, as the Imperials are no longer engaged in any 'major' wars. General opinion of the Asari within the Imperium is rather low due to the perception that the Asari are long-lived busybodies (if attractive to a human preference) who cannot keep their opinions on how war should be conducted to themselves. On the flipside, the Asari see Humans (and Imperials in general) as a step-up from Krogan who look frighteningly similar to themselves.

Still, it is not a Cold War, which is better than most could have hoped for.

From 2480 to early 2483, there has been much in terms of Imperial-Citadel cooperation, ranging from educational initiatives to joint military exercises. To showcase their commitment to a lasting 'alliance of Alliances', something with lasting effects is equally needed- something like a relatively intact Prothean beacon, found on the Imperial colony of Eden Prime...

* * *

 **Imperium Today**

The Systems Imperium is generally regarded as one of the 'Great Powers' of the Galaxy, alongside the Citadel Council States and the Omega Syndicate (depending on circumstances).

Their economy is the second-largest after the Asari Republics, followed by the Turian Hierarchy and Salarian Union, largely due to the lack of any trade barriers within the Imperial Star Alliance- something that could not be said for the Citadel Alliance's member states. The biggest strength of the Imperial economy comes from their Eldfell-Ashland Energy consortium, whose 'hyperscoop' allows them to dominate HE3 mining galaxy-wide.

As the undisputed head of the Imperial Star Alliance, they form the second-largest political entity in the Galaxy, behind the Citadel Alliance. Leadership of the ISA itself falls to the Monarch of the Imperium, and the federalist nature of the ISA means that any laws set by the ISA Assembly applies to all ISA states. In this, they are far more 'integrated' than the Citadel Alliance- a necessity in order for them to compete.

The Imperial military is also one of the largest in the Galaxy, although it is still smaller than the Turians'. The total military forces of the Imperial Star Alliance combined is actually (on paper, at least) smaller than the Citadel Council States', but it makes up for this with notably superior technology. This has been attributed to the Mars Prothean Archives, which were military-oriented (as opposed to the ones uncovered by the Citadel, which were 'General' Archives). This allows Human (which essentially _are_ the Imperial military) forces to punch above their weight-class, although it isn't going to allow them to steamroll Citadel forces by any means. Even so, the Empress doesn't seem to have any designs on the Citadel Alliance, and Joint Military Exercises have been regularly held between the Turians and Imperials for the past few years. There are even rumors of a joint 'Terminus Observation Force' between the two, but this has been dismissed as claptrap by those in power on both sides.

Culturally, Humanity is dominant within the Imperial Star Alliance. The Opheni, for instance, resemble a 'Human-Offshoot' culture more than an alien culture, and this is reflected to somewhat lesser degrees in every Imperial client state. Outside of the Imperial Star Alliance, however, Imperial culture is not as widespread. Imperial holo-vids, haptic-video games and music do find occasional success abroad, but the Asari still hold significant dominance there. In return, the Turians and Asari have found some success within the Imperium, with the former's war-media (movies, games, books) being highly popular, and the latter having success in the arts and music (and erotica, but that's rarely touted as an accomplishment).

The Human Systems Imperium is, without a doubt, a first rate star empire, and looks to be here to stay.

* * *

 **Wars of the Human Race:**

June 12, 2049 - May 11, 2050: Third World War, caused by the Great Discovery on Mars

February 25, 2085 - October 4, 2095: First Interstellar War/First Human Civil War, caused by rebellions on Colony worlds

July 6, 2115 - February 17, 2145: Second Interstellar War/Second Human Civil War, continuation of the First Interstellar War

March 22, 2133 - February 17, 2145: Constantine's Revolution, concurrent to Second Interstellar War, fought by Admiral Anthony Constantine and his followers against the three other factions that controlled mankind

June 2, 2157 - November 9, 2160: First Contact War/Human-Vikar War, fought after the Vikar invaded a Human colony

March 4, 2262 - July 18, 2263: Intervention in Navir Civil War, conducted by Human Imperial forces against Navir Traditionalists

December 27, 2347 - April 3, 2359: Human-Pangar War, caused by Pangar assassination of Emperor Xavier, leading to severe casualties among Pangar populations. Pangar Homeworld completely depopulated of Pangar.

October 3, 2396 - October 10, 2396: Human-Raloi War, caused by Raloi ships firing on Imperial vessels.

November 1, 2396 - December 17, 2396: Raloi Reclamation Campaign, where Imperial military forces retake the Raloi colonies from slavers.

May 24, 2414 - May 29, 2414: Delegation to Omega. While technically not a war, several flotillas were violently dispatched by the Imperial First Combined Armada on the way to Omega.

January 19, 2424 - January 30, 2424: Intervention in Caleston Civil War, leading to the establishment of the pro-Imperial Calston Free State

January 22, 2465 - June 17, 2465: First Skyllian Conflict, where Imperial and Batarian forces clashed in the Skyllian Verge. It was ended with the Ceasefire Treaty at the Conference of Ujon.

May 3, 2470 - August 24, 2470: Second Skyllian Conflict, where a string of Batarian-funded attacks hit the Imperial Verge colonies, serving as a diversionary attack to the Battle of Mindoir. Imperial forces retaliated by razing several Batarian Verge colonies, before the Treaty of Anhur ends the Conflict.

March 20, 2476 - March 21, 2479: Imperial-Batarian War, the first conflict where Imperial Client States contribute a significant portion of the Imperial forces. Sparked by the assassinations of Emperor Valerian and Crown Prince Peter, the Imperial-Batarian War was seen as a culmination of the Skyllian Conflicts. It ended with the fall of the Batarian Hegemony, although the Batarians remain independent- at least nominally.

* * *

 **Monarchs of the Systems Imperium:**

Emperor Antonius the Great (born Anthony Constantine, of the House of Constantine)  
March 1, 2145 CE - June 4, 2250 CE (105 Years)  
Emperor Antonius, born Anthony Constantine, was the first and longest-reigning monarch of the Systems Imperium. As the founder of the Imperium, he commanded great respect and admiration among the general human population, and is widely regarded as one of the reasons the Constantine Dynasty has lasted to this day.

Emperor Charles I (born Charles Constantine, of the House of Constantine), Second Emperor of Man  
June 5, 2250 CE - June 4, 2277 CE (27 Years)  
Emperor Charles, born Charles Constantine, was the second son of Emperor Antonius, and the second monarch of the Systems Imperium. His reign was much like that of his father's, albeit with far more peace.

Emperor Xavier I (born Xavier Constantine, of the House of Constantine), Third Emperor of Man  
June 5, 2277 CE - December 27, 2329 CE (52 Years)  
Emperor Xavier, born Xavier Constantine, was the eldest son of Emperor Charles, and the third monarch of the Systems Imperium. His reign was much like that of his father's, albeit with far more peace. His death by assassination would later spark the Human-Pangar War.

Empress Anastasia, the Revanchist (born Anastasia Constantine, of the House of Constantine), First Empress of Man  
January 2, 2330 CE - February 15, 2365 CE (35 Years)  
Empress Anastasia, born Anastasia Constantine, was the youngest daughter of Emperor Xavier, and was only sixteen at the time of her coronation (the only time an Imperial monarch was crowned while underage, without a regent). Her reign remains controversial to this day, with the near-extinction of the Pangar species being authorized by her. Her assassination led to the appointment of the first Regent in the history of the Imperium.

Duke-Regent Michael Udina (born Michael Udina, of the House of Udina)  
February 17, 2365 CE - August 21, 2373 CE (8 Years)  
The first non-Constantine to reign, Duke-Regent Michael Udina was the patriarch of the Great House of Udina, one of the more prominent Noble Houses, and was a close friend and confidante of Empress Anastasia. His legacy is marked by the creation of the Order of Anastasia, the highest Knightly Order of the Systems Imperium. He stepped down from the regency upon Crown Prince Magnus' 21st birthday.

Emperor Magnus I (born Magnus Constantine, of the House of Constantine), Fourth Emperor of Man  
August 21, 2373 CE - November 2, 2451 CE (78 Years)  
Emperor Magnus, born Magnus Constantine, was the only child of Empress Anastasia, and was only thirteen years old at the time of his mother's assassination. His reign, which started on his 21st birthday, was a peaceful one compared to his mother's, and included the creation of the Imperial Star Alliance and the normalization of diplomatic ties with the Terminus powers.

Emperor Valerian (born Valerian Constantine, of the House of Constantine), Fifth Emperor of Man  
November 9, 2451 CE - January 19, 2465 CE, February 11, 2466 CE - March 20, 2476 CE (24 Years)  
Emperor Valerian, born Valerian Constantine, was the eldest son of Emperor Magnus. He was perceived by many to be a hothead when he ordered the colonization of the Verge. However, he also normalized diplomatic ties with the Citadel Alliance, and his political maneuvering ensured that the Batarians would find no support there. Emperor Valerian is credited with creating closer ties between the Turian Hierarchy and the Systems Imperium, a fact that hasn't escaped anyone's attention. His assassination, alongside that of his eldest son's, were the opening acts of the Imperial-Batarian War.

Prince-Regent Peter (born Peter Constantine, of the House of Constantine)  
January 19, 2465 CE - February 11, 2466 (1 Year)  
Although he was only at the helm of the Imperium for a single year, Prince-Regent Peter, born Peter Constantine, was instrumental in clamping down on the hysteria that followed Emperor Valerian's injury, and forcing the end of the First Skyllian Conflict. His assassination, alongside that of his father's, were the beginning of the Imperial-Batarian War.

Empress Alexandra (born Alexandra Constantine, of the House of Constantine), Second Empress of Man  
March 21, 2476 CE - Present  
Empress Alexandra, born Alexandra Constantine, ascended to the Throne in the aftermath of the assassinations of Emperor Magnus and Crown Prince Peter. She is the third-youngest person to have been crowned as monarch, behind her grandmother, Empress Anastasia, and father, Emperor Magnus, at the age of 21 years and one week. Her first action was to declare war on the Batarian Hegemony, thus starting the Imperial-Batarian War. She also ended that same war with the Conference of Adek, and seems to be working towards Imperial-Citadel cooperation.

* * *

 **Imperial Doctrines:**

Drescher Doctrine: The first signs of Human imperialism can be found in the Drescher Doctrine, which stipulates that wherever possible, the Human Systems Imperium must have dominance over its neighbors in all matters political, economic and military, with cultural dominance where applicable. This dominance would be used to influence the neighboring states into joining the Imperium. It was later discarded in favor of the Goyle Doctrine. Examples of the Drescher Doctrine being applied are the Krith Dependency and Datiri Protectorate, where Imperial control of their economies, blatant Imperial military dominance, and the Imperial influence in their governments led to their peaceful induction into the Imperium.

Goyle Doctrine: The Goyle Doctrine was created by Ambassador Daniel Goyle as a method for quicker Imperial expansion. Like the Drescher Doctrine, it rejects the actual usage of force on other parties. Instead, a third-party entity is used to convince the targeted polity to accept Imperial dominance and peacefully join the Imperium as a client state. The prime example of this is the formation of the Raloi Protectorate, where the unintentional presence of Terminus slavers and pirates drove them into the Imperium.

* * *

Notes:

Humanity is significantly more powerful than in canon, on par with the individual Council Member States (maybe even more). This is due to several factors, the largest of which being that the Prothean Archives on Mars are significantly more preserved than in canon, and that they are highly focused on military techs. Humanity is also more imperialist than canon, a by-product of their 'alternate' history here. They have also been in space for a much longer time than canon Humanity, which would allow them to actually compete with the 2000-year old star empires. Still, they aren't overpowered by any means, and the fact that they're larger here also had the butterfly effect of forcing the Citadel to increase their military. In truth, if both the Citadel and the Imperials went to war, it'd be likelier for the Citadel to emerge victorious, although it'd probably be a pyrrhic victory at best. If the text feels like it's biased towards the 'monarchical' system, it's because it is- I'm not a monarchist, but I do support a more authoritarian system of governance, especially when considering the scale involved. Galaxy-wide democracy seems implausible when it rarely works on individual countries on Earth. In fact, most 'successful' democracies tend to be small (in either population or area), with the USA being a sort-of-exception.

The Citadel Alliance is also significantly bigger than portrayed in canon. For one, the Turians, Asari and Salarians will all have their own slew of client races here, as implied in canon. The Volus are merely the most prominent of these, this their embassy on the Citadel.

Eldfell-Ashland Energy is a canon Human company, and are implied to 'own all the fuel stations being blown up' during ME3. The 'hyperscoop' is also a canon thing.

* * *

Breakdown of the 'Alliances'

Imperial Star Alliance:  
Systems Imperium (Human)- Leader of the ISA  
Opheni Protectorate  
Krith Dependency  
Datiri Protectorate  
Navir Protectorate  
Vikar Mandate  
Raloi Protectorate  
Caleston Free State (Unofficial Puppet Government)

Citadel Alliance-

Council:  
Asari Republics  
Salarian Union  
Turian Hierarchy

Associate:  
Illuminated Primacy (Hanar)  
Courts of Dekuuna (Elcor)  
Batarian Hegemony  
Vol Protectorate (Volus) (Turian Client)

[Subordinate- meaning Client State without embassy on Citadel- are not listed]

Multisystem Subordinate States:  
Dependency of Mercal (Turian Client)  
Tributary States of Rinma (Turian Client)  
Valan-Kar Protectorate (Turian Client)  
Kvesnor Federated Protectorates (Turian Client)  
Pedourian Autonomous Territories (Turian Client)  
Del-Rankal Principalities (Salarian Client)  
Royal Jildar Protectorate (Salarian Client)  
People's Republic of Trantal (Asari Client)  
Democratic State of Avala-Progri (Asari Client)  
Righteous Nation of Jins-Qul (Batarian Client)


End file.
